Good

Learners of Chinese
Profiles of students in secondary school

Claudia Prescott and Jane Orton

Chinese Teacher Training Centre
The University of Melbourne
April 2012



Copyright The University of Melbourne, 2012

CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................1
2. THE NOTION OF THE GOOD LANGUAGE LEARNER .........................................................2
3. PROCEDURE....................................................................................................................3
4. SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................4
4.1 PARTICIPANTS ......................................................................................................................4
4.2 RESULTS ..............................................................................................................................4
4.3 RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................................................6
5. ELABORATION AND DISCUSSION.....................................................................................7
5.1 CHARACTERISTICS..................................................................................................................7
5.2 PARENTAL SUPPORT...............................................................................................................9
5.3 CLASSROOM EXPERIENCES .......................................................................................................9
5.4 INDEPENDENT LEARNING ......................................................................................................11
5.5 PROFICIENCY DEVELOPMENT..................................................................................................12
6. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................15
7. REFERENCES..................................................................................................................16
APPENDIX PARTICIPANT DETAILS ...................................................................................17

1. Introduction
This report presents profiles of the study habits, attitude, beliefs and learning experience of fourteen
Victorian classroom learners of Chinese whom their teachers consider to be good language learners:
students at various stages of their secondary schooling who have made particularly good headway in
Chinese, especially in their acquisition of the oral language.
The aim of the research is to provide information on a range of good learners of Chinese in Victorian
schools, showing what they think and feel about their study, and what they do to learn the language so
successfully. The profiles show the students interviewed represent a spread of individual interests,
history and learning styles. They also show some strong commonalties across the group. While
personality and individual history cannot be shared, a number of characteristics have been identified
which might usefully be cultivated in other learners to assist them in achieving greater success. The
research also reveals some of the challenges in learning Chinese well at school that daunt even keen,
hard-working young Australians. It is hoped that this report may lead to greater public recognition of
these and some collaborative effort to eliminate them, both for the sake of the individual students and
in the national interest.

2. The Notion of the Good Language Learner

The idea that those who do well in second language courses might be more than simply students of
higher diligence than their classmates, that they might employ particular strategies and even be a
particular kind of person, first became publicly debated in modern education with the publication of
Rubins (1975) report, What the Good Language Learner Can Tell Us. Turning away from a focus on
the characteristics of a good teacher of language, Rubin proposed that there was, indeed, such a
person as a good language learner (GLL), and that what was distinctive about such students was that
they made use of certain strategies and exhibited superior perseverance. In 1978, a study of
successful second language learners by Naiman, Frohlich, Stern and Tedesco found that
certain attributes [were] common among good language learners, especially with
regard to strategies and techniques they had employed.... [The study] also illustrated the
complexity and individuality of each learning situation and career (p. 99).
The results of a later study by Rubin and Thompson (1982/1994) showed that success in learning a
foreign language depends largely on how well the learners assess what they need to do at each
stage of development. In addition to suggesting common characteristics, these studies also showed
that even good language learners face considerable individual challenges in achieving proficiency.
In 1990 Oxford began a series of studies of the strategy typology of GLLs, comprising study habits,
learning styles and learning strategies (e.g. Oxford, 1992). She found they fell into two categories:
indirect strategies metacognitive, affective and social which support and manage language
learning; and direct strategies cognitive, memory and compensatory which directly involve the
target language.
Oxfords work involving the study of school aged language learners was used as the framework by
Foard (2000) in her study of Year 8 students of Italian in a Melbourne junior high school. Foard
discovered a pattern of characteristics, emotions, attitudes, actions and behaviours exhibited by the
good language learners in her group, who were defined as sharing both good results in formal
assessments of language acquisition, and keenness to continue. The most important among their
common attributes were (1) strong parental support and encouragement; (2) the opportunity to play
around with the language outside of class; (3) professional status of family plus bilingual background;
(4) a major desire to please parents; (5) friends also studying the language; (6) an attitude to the study
of a language other than English as being especially exciting, interesting and feasible; and, (7) the use
of specific language learning strategies, notably, particular cognitive strategies, as well as managing
their learning effectively by doing all work set in class and as homework, and reviewing it. As a group,
Foards GLLs were generally diligent and successful students, achieving well also in Mathematics and
English. Foard concluded from her findings that students who are encouraged from an early age to
think about how they are learning may become more strategically competent as they mature, and may
benefit from quite small changes in their learning approach through strategy training (p.139).
A later study of relevance was undertaken in South Australia and involved the motivation and beliefs
of some 60 school students from all sectors who were continuing with language learning beyond the
compulsory years (Curnow and Kohler, 2006). It revealed the primary factor across the group for going
on was feeling they were doing all right in the subject, and this was commonly combined with liking
their teacher and having some friends also doing the language.
The most recent consideration of the notion is a study by Erard (2012) of the GLL in extreme form, the
hyperpolyglot, who learns many languages exceptionally well, and usually exceptionally quickly. Erard
points out that the prior explanations for talented language learning diverge over whether there is
either, no need to resort to biological exceptionality, what matters is a persons sense of mission and
dedication to language learning, what they do is the product of practice; or, whether there is something
neurological is going on. We may not know exactly what the neurological mechanisms are, [but] we
cant fully explain the exceptional outcomes as just the result of training or motivation (p.p. 163). After
investigating and explaining the origins of hyperpolyglottism, Erard concludes that the brain, culture,
and individual biography interact with each other to produce hyperpolyglots (p. 242).

3. Procedure
Watching students performing in the Victorian Schools Chinese Speaking Competition prompted the
question of what it was that made these ones successful and this led to twelve secondary schools with
established Chinese programs being approached, and their Chinese teachers asked if they were able
to identify one or two students who might fit the definition of an especially good oral language learner
who was not of Chinese background. Six schools responded, each nominating between one and three
students, including five who had been selected to participate in regional reading/speaking
competitions, two of whom had attended competition finals in China and obtained a future scholarship
to study at a university in Beijing. In addition, three sets of parents were contacted who over the prior
year had mentioned to one of the researchers that their child was a keen and successful secondary
learner of Chinese in a school of predominantly background speakers. In all, 18 candidates were
identified, and their schools were requested to pass on an invitation to them to participate and a
request to their parents for permission to interview. The schools these students attend are from the
three sectors, government, independent and catholic.
A semi-structured interview lasting approximately 30 minutes was audio recorded by one researcher
at their school with each of the 14 students who agreed to participate. (Of the other four, two could not
participate at the time, and two chose not to.) The interview sought the nature and meaning that
participating students made of their success in learning Chinese. In light of the prior studies mentioned
above, participants information was analysed with respect to situational factors and family influences,
their personal attitude to the language and culture of China, and the kind of practices they engaged in
as part of their learning.

4. Summary
4. 1 Participants
The 14 participants are students of secondary schools in the government, independent or catholic
sectors, aged between 13 and 18 years. Of this, 13 have no Chinese heritage; 1 has 25% Chinese
heritage, but grew up away from the language and culture. The table below shows the student profile.

Male

Year Level
Gov

Ind

Female
Cath

Gov

Ind

Cath

10
11

12

Post Yr 12

TOTAL

7 students

7 students

Table 1: Student Group Profile

4. 2 Results
1.

The one common good learning characteristic of all the students, which appears across the range
of gender, age and school type, is that they benefit from support and a positive attitude to their
study from their family: their families are keen for them to learn Chinese and they encourage
them in their language learning tasks, despite the fact that none of the parents is able to assist
with the study, and only two students have a sibling who has studied Chinese. Parental support
includes applying pressure to do well, offering rewards for success and offering to hear work
learned such as vocabulary and dialogues.

2.

A further learning characteristic, which runs a close second to the first, is that the students
describe themselves as engaged by their studies, both with respect to Chinese and more
generally. Two-thirds refer to themselves as a high achiever and are doing very well in English,
while half are taking advanced Maths and two-thirds are also quite highly developed musicians.

3.

All the students are doing well in Chinese and greatly enjoy the challenge it offers despite the
work it takes. Whether they volunteered to study it or it was compulsory, they find Chinese
intriguing and nice to listen to, and look forward to travelling to China in future.

4.

The same high proportion of the students is readily able to articulate specific learning strategies
they employ, the principal two of which are that they are diligent in doing all the work set and they
make additional efforts themselves. Just over half believe they are naturally good at language
learning. Their learning techniques consist primarily of reading/speaking aloud and/or using
auditory aids, and just over half have a revision/review strategy to consolidate work. It is evident
that all are active and able in managing their studies and the demands they make on them.

5.

The 12/14 still studying Chinese at school at the time of the interviews intend to continue the
following year, and this despite a number having found studying Chinese to be quite a negative
experience. One of the two who will not continue has already completed VCE and has not
4

continued with Chinese at university, although he thinks he still might. The other non-continuer is
one of the youngest male students who, after a very positive first year of Chinese in Year 7, found
himself in a new group in Year 8, where he was overwhelmed by the large number of home
speakers. Despite his best efforts, he was ranked very low in the class and he could see no point
in continuing.
6.

All the students have clear views on how their Chinese course could be improved. Their major
proposition is that the listening and speaking component be increased considerably. They also
think more time should be spent on teaching the mastery of tones, and more time should be
allowed for Chinese altogether. All complain that the bulk of their study is only reading and
writing. As a result, even when they have the opportunity to speak Chinese, in China or locally,
they find themselves very poor at getting anything out, a situation they experience as both
embarrassing and disappointing.

7.

The students success in Chinese has developed despite the fact that fewer than a quarter had
had the opportunity to learn Chinese over any period in Primary, and nearly two thirds had found
themselves in Chinese at the start of Secondary without the option to choose another language.
Those in both groups, however, said they felt Chinese was intriguing and they liked the sound of
it, the characters and the culture; and they have a desire to socialise, travel and work with the
language.

The above characteristics of these good language learners match much that Foard and other
researchers have found among similar groups of students, notably that:

parental interest and encouragement play a central role in their success

the students are interested in their school work more generally and, specifically, in the
language they are learning, both now and for itself, as well as for its likely value in the future
the students know their own learning needs and manage their learning by adopting strategies
that they have found effective.

While all acknowledge and appreciate the encouragement they receive from their teachers, unlike
Foards students, and notably unlike Curnow and Kohlers interviewees, the students in this study
rarely mention liking (or not liking) their teachers of Chinese, or finding them interesting; and the two
who spoke of working with a friend raise the practical help this provides, rather than the camaraderie
mentioned by students in Foards research and in the South Australian study. Unlike Foards students,
only 25% of these students access Chinese in the community, although some others watch Chinese
television.

4. 3 Recommendations
The above results provide the following information for teachers on how they might help students learn
better, and on how they might teach better.
Learning
As with earlier research, the results of this study suggest there is much that is teachable about being a
successful learner of Chinese, and very much in line with Rubin and Thompsons major finding and
Foards own conclusions, most of what it is recommended teachers might teach their own students
falls into the category of learning to learn. To this end, teachers should:

talk to students about their learning and make talking about their problems a discussable topic
help them to monitor their learning, understand their own needs, and design strategies that
work for them on points where they are weak
teach specific practical strategies for learning tones and characters
ensure that lessons include metalinguistic awareness so that the intrinsic interest in language
can develop and sustain the study
teach students to find challenges interesting rather than simply daunting
assist background speakers and classroom learners to work more cooperatively together
ensure students are aware of community resources they can access independently to
increase their experience of the language in natural settings
educate parents about the importance of their interest in their childs perseverance and
success; suggest practical ways for them to help their children with Chinese.

Teaching
The picture that emerges of the experience of studying Chinese is rather a dismal one. Although not
the direct focus of the inquiry, the students had a great deal to say about their experiences, their
aspirations and their preferences with respect to teaching and course structure that, if listened to, could
contribute to better learning by students like themselves, and very possibly lead to the retention and
development of many of those who drop out once Chinese is no longer compulsory. The following are
the major points on these matters raised by virtually all of the students:

Along with acknowledgement of encouraging, supportive teachers, lessons are described as

dull, repetitive and frequently dysfunctional
Especially in the crucial Middle Years (7-9), even these passionate, diligent learners claim to
have made only modest progress in proficiency, creating a poor base on which to develop a
Year 12 standard comparable to that reached by learners of other languages
Right up to the end of secondary school, these good students are lamenting their lack of grasp
of tones and their poor ability to understand and speak, which inhibits most of them from taking
advantage of opportunities to practise and improve their Chinese by participating in community
activities
While in their classes there is considerable imbalance in emphasis on development in literacy
at the expense of the spoken, their lower oral skills are also the result of being given very little
chance to ever hear flows of natural Chinese and thus develop an inner impression of how
they should sound. Instead, what they hear most are Australian students answering in class
which, as one put it, is almost a different language compared to a Chinese person speaking.
Their stronger ability in reading and writing does not reflect a high return on effort. To the
contrary, they say, it has been gained at excessive cost in comparison to work done for other
subjects, and remains tenuous, in need of constant maintenance to prevent erosion.

5. Elaboration and Discussion

5.1 Characteristics
Characteristic

Detail and Number of

Students, N = 14

More/other detail

Other language spoken 5 by family members and

at home
student

1 French (mother)/ Italian (father)

1 Dutch (father)
1 Hindi (both parents)
1 GujRerati (mother)
1 Bengali (father)/ Filipino (mother)

Other language
learning at school

3 French
2 German, Italian
1 Spanish, Indonesian, Hebrew
1 Chinese + French

7 Higher Mathss
10 A+ English
10 6+ years of private music
5 Multiple instruments
5 Studying singing
1 VCE Music

8 Primary School
4 VCE

Academic achievement 10 Self proclaimed high

achievers
13 Claimed to be engaged

Chinese learning
history

Family influence

4 Full primary (6 years)

8 Secondary only

3 had negative experiences, with

changes in teacher and low outcomes
in learning, but were still positive about
their teachers encouragement

14 Encouraged to study
Chinese

1 Private tutor
2 Sibling studying Chinese

2 Grade 6

11 No family assistance
with Chinese
6

Selection of Chinese

5 Chinese selected over

other languages in Year 7
9

Compulsory in Year 7

Experience learning
Chinese

8 Negative

Intention to continue
with Chinese next year

12 Yes

2 Ambivalent

3 thought it would be useful

1 liked the sound of Chinese
1 interested due to his martial arts
interest
1 interested due to own Chinese
heritage (25%)
1 goes to school with a lot of
Chinese
3 Poor teaching/program
2 In with heritage students
3 Modest progress

2 No

Teaching resources

6 Positive
2 OK, but not individual
enough

10 VCE opinions (N =7)

6 Not enough listening and

speaking
6 Not enough specifically on
tones
4 Resources too oriented to
literacy
4 Time too short to improve
for assessment
requirements
5 Can separate formal
written language from more
informal spoken language

11 Learning strategies
and effort

13 Can articulate own

strategies
3 Does extra work
8 Have aptitude

12 Listening and speaking

14 Insufficient

13 Reading and writing

13 Bulk of work and

homework

14 Chinese social

10 No contact
2 Local community
1 Family friends
1 L1 boarder at home

15 Travel to China

4 Travelled to China
7 First trip planned

Table 2: Characteristics of the Good Learners of Chinese

5. 2 Parental support
The parents of the students interviewed are keen for their children to do well in school, generally, and
a number believe that knowing a second language is an advantage. Virtually all are particularly keen
about their child learning Chinese, seeing it as likely to be an asset in the future. Their parents
powerful encouragement to learn Chinese, to keep learning it, and to do well in it, was recognized by
all the students as a strong piece of their own motivation and interest. For example:

Whenever I get, um, good marks on my reports, my Mum will always take me out somewhere
and Ill get a hot chocolate or something [laughs]. (Mary, Year 7)

I think thats, like, why I do so well, cause I have the support from home. (Nelly, Year 8)

[My mother] constantly talks to me about speaking languages My family is all for Chinese.
(Daisy, Year 9)

I got [the] Mandarin award last year, and they were very proud of me so I think I got a
present for that as well. (Kosi, Year 9)

Yeah, my Mum and Dad really want me to learn it, and theyre really glad that Im going to go
to China next year. (Nicole, Year 9)

Well, basically the China trip is, I guess, a reward in itself for doing well in Chinese but, um,
my parents are really encouraging of Chinese, and if, you know, they see a Chinese book or
something, they might buy it for me cause they know Im interested in that kind of thing just
to keep me going. (Karolina, Year 11)

They liked the idea of Chinese and they see Im enjoying it. (Kiril, Year 11)

If they were a bit more just do what you want I probably wouldnt have continued, but Dad
was really strong that I should be continuing. (Noah, post-Year 12)

5. 3 Classroom experiences
Teachers
The most unexpected information to come from the interviews was that for most of their years of study,
Chinese class had often not been of much interest, nor even especially fruitful for these good language
learners. Although they said their Chinese teachers had always been encouraging, up until Year 10,
several had found their teachers lacking in skill, and the lessons disrupted by classmates with no
interest in learning. As a result, their progress in the language seems to have occurred more in spite of
their classes, pushed along by their parents, their own desire to do well, genuine fascination with the
language itself, and a great deal of time spent on task beyond the classroom. For example:

Um, I think all my Chinese teachers Ive only had two, but theyve been really encouraging.
From Prep to Year 6 we just had the same Chinese teacher, but thats good cause she got to
know me, sort of-ish, and know what I was good at and, she was really encouraging. (Mary,
Year 7)

We basically did the same thing every class, we looked at the textbook of the cartoons and,
yeah, so she reads it out first and then we write it down. Yeah, like the classes didnt vary
much, like we didnt really watch videos, so it was a bit uninteresting. (Ned, Year 9;
dropped Chinese end Year 8)

Yeah, Year 8 was harder because, um, our teacher um [laughs] he wasnt that good at
teaching us all that we needed to know, and he would like, teach us something then go
straight on to another thing, so it was quite hard to learn it, but this year its been really good
cause our teacher will go through everything, and shell give us time to learn it, and teach
us new things, and she talks to us a lot, too in Chinese. (Nicole, Year 9)

I think Year 7 I learnt a lot, and the teacher was really good Im not sure if thats cause it
was the first time I learnt it. Year 8 I found I didnt learn much. Im not sure if that was the
9

teacher, but I think more the students, cause the majority of the class didnt want to learn,
which gets a bit frustrating, cause then I struggled to learn and the teacher focus is on them
more. (Kosi, Year 9)

For a semester in Year 9 we had a really, really bad [non-Chinese background] teacher
[laughs]. He was quite, um, well he just didnt know how to teach us and, the class was
pretty out of control, um, we werent learning the coursework, and my marks did drop a bit, by
about 10% Id say. (Delia, Year 9)

One [teacher] taught me in Year 7 and again in Year 11 and um, my Middle School years
[were] just filling in with other teachers and hes really had a positive aspect on me, always
pushing me to do something, like this [interview]. He wants me to do some Chinese
scholarship after school [graduation]. (Karolina, Year 11)

I think they teach Chinese differently to Chinese people. And, well one of my teachers [who
was not Chinese], I dont think they were very good at all um, their vocab wasnt that good,
and, yeah, their Chinese wasnt that good either, so that was obviously a hindrance. I didnt
enjoy it that much, the class when I had that teacher. I think quite a few students stopped
because the teacher wasnt very good. (Kevin, Year 12)

From Year 7 till [Year] 10, um, I had a very slow rate of improvement, like I didnt feel I was
learning much in between those years and I wasnt really putting in. I didnt really like the style
of learning, like, I mean, you just had a book and filled out some things and it didnt really stick
with me. (Noah, post-Year 12)

Classmates
One of the challenges to doing well that some had faced was being in class with students of Chinese
background, who often had considerable proficiency in the language and familiarity with the culture.
Responses to this challenge, however, varied. Another challenge was being in class with disruptive
students, who were not interested in Chinese. In either case, the students interviewed often felt they
had been rather neglected. For example:

In primary school I didnt enjoy it. But I partly blame the teacher for that, because the primary
school that I went to was very much an Asian population, like 80% was Asian, so, um, shed
give us a worksheet to do and put us to the side while she just taught the, um, the you know
[the background Chinese students]. (Daisy, Year 9)

One of my, I guess, key experiences, was in Year 8 [when] I was put into a Chinese heritage
class Most of the people around me were Chinese, and I guess that was my major booster,
where I actually learnt Chinese. Not only having a Chinese teacher, but all the students
around you actually being Chinese, it really sped the class up quite a bit. And also the
students talking to the teacher usually spoke Chinese as well, so the conversations were
mostly in Chinese. (Bahir, Year 9, now in a second language group)

Not many people [in my state secondary college] choose Chinese [because of the many
heritage learners]. Everyone else was a bit more headstarted, so I found that a little bit hard to
sort of keep up from scratch without knowing anything. If everyone started on the same foot,
[it] probably would have been a bit easier to work, and then the teacher probably wouldnt
have moved so quickly, so maybe I wouldnt have got behind. We were sort of clueless, you
know. (Ned, Year 9; dropped Chinese after spending Years 7 and 8 in a class of 25
background speakers and 4 other classroom beginner speakers like himself.)

So, like, theres a lot of kids who dont want to learn, and fair enough, I mean theyre being
forced to do a subject theyre not particularly interested in. No matter how good a teacher you
are in Year 7, youre not going to have much impact on them But she got us interested, that
was the key thing. And the same in Years 8 and 9, when I had [another teacher]. So I learnt
more in Year 10 than I think I did in those three years before. Like now, theres 10 or 12 kids
who are actually serious and who actually want to learn, so you learn a lot more. (Taksheel,
Year 12)

10

5.4 Independent Learning

Attitude
The students exhibited a strong sense of responsibility for their own learning and had developed
personal processes and techniques to keep themselves on track. For example:

I think if I did, like a test and I get something wrong, then I work on that particular one that I got
wrong so that I get it right on the next test. (Nelly, Year 8)

I do work hard at it, like in every subject, but I think I listen and I actually concentrate when I
do my work. (Tania, Year 9)

Well, really I try to expose myself to Chinese as much as possible you can do a lot of fun
things like watching Chinese movies, reading Chinese books and listening is the main key
thing, I found, when learning Chinese. (Bahir, Year 9)

Going back and seeing your mistakes is really useful, especially in Chinese, cause, theres a
tendency to make the same grammatical mistakes, or use a word in the wrong place, or forget
simple things, again and again, so you need to review. (Taksheel, Year 12)

Extra time spent on Chinese was largely dependent upon and shuffled around in light of the demands
of other subjects and extracurricular pursuits, with the most time spent consolidating before
assessment or on weekends. All have high personal expectations and are self-motivated to achieve
those outcomes. All mentioned persevering with Chinese, and deriving pleasure at perceiving a
connection between effort and result.
Strategies
All but the student who had dropped Chinese after Year 8 could easily identify their personal learning
style and strategies. The accounts below of how they go about their independent learning show they
have remarkable self-awareness with respect to how they learn and what they need to work on to
grasp Chinese and to improve, and this is combined with admirably mature, disciplined study
practices. For example, these notes from their accounts:

Learns things really quickly; does a lot of revision for tests and exams, parents help test for
assessment. (Mary, Year 7)

Learns characters pretty quickly (sees them once or twice/writes a few times to memorise);
perseveres and persists with revision (primary school technique: look, see, cover, write, check);
always does extra revision and identifies what she is struggling with in order to improve. (Nelly,
Year 8)

Repetition (also using raps); doesnt cram, takes breaks to avoid frustration; benefits from
classmates modeling the language well; takes time to process and understand content. (Daisy,
Year 9)

Visual learner; works closely with friend in and out of class; aware of intonation (from studying
raps in class and studying violin). (Tania, Year 9)

Likes to analyse characters; does some extra work on the radicals and stories, finds her own
way to group characters as this helps with memorization; sometimes reads books about China.
(Nicole, Year 9)

A visual thinker, currently focussing on aural/oral work; watches film in Chinese in his own time
to improve listening; practices characters in context and studies radicals. (Bahir, Year 9)

Asks questions, enjoys classroom discussion (doesnt find working online at home helpful as
has a lot of questions); says sentences aloud to himself to memorise and help with
pronunciation; analyses radicals; finds characters hard to write but learning radicals makes it
easier. (Kosi, Year 9)

11

Listens to songs to learn, finds it really helpful to memorise words through singing, associating
them with a note or the melody; visual learner, finds characters easy to remember; uses charts
or mind maps to revise in other subjects also; really likes to make flashcards for revision; also
writes key sentences and sentence structures. (Delia, Year 11)

Does Chinese homework straight away, probably everyday; own revision strategy to consolidate
everything, includes writing English and Chinese translations; says aloud while writing
sentences structures out (flashcard strategy in Years 7-9); uses CD for listening preparation
before assessment; works with a Chinese heritage classmate. (Karolina, Year 11)

Punctual with homework so hes ahead or with the class; thinks its easier to revise consistently
after each class (4 per week) character practice and sentences; doesnt cram for tests, does the
work beforehand; in contact with 3-4 close friends (non-heritage) outside of class over the
phone for help. (Kiril, Year 11)

Maintains awareness of tones; has an essay writing strategy; combines movement with
speaking aloud for oral memorisation. (Kevin, Year 12)

Reviews his work to correct and improve, especially essays; consults character history book for
etymology and to memorise by radicals; does extra reading from books or online outside of set
homework (encouraged by teacher); enjoys weekly buddy system with international students,
good to have another perspective. (Taksheel, Year 12)

VCE study strategy based on assessment tasks, not focusing on personally needed
improvements; personal focus on oral exam, walked and talked; work was more about
memorisation than proficiency; conferred with classmates and measured priorities against them.
(Noah, post-Year 12).

5.5 Proficiency development
Speaking and listening
Students were generally disappointed at the lower priority given to speaking and listening in their
courses, calling it an imbalance and lamented their relative inability to express themselves well in
speech and, especially, to master the tones for which they wanted much more listening practice and
some specific instruction in becoming tonal.
Pre-VCE students

Speaking yeah we do a bit of it. Um, we dont do much listening activities. We just listen to
our teacher, and then just say it. Its mostly English for like explaining things, but if were
learning language shell obviously say it in Chinese, and greetings, theyre in Chinese. (Mary,
Year 7)

We do listening and speaking sometimes, like we might go around the class once every now
and then. We do more of reading and writing, like textbook work or writing stuff down in our
exercise book. I had a lot of trouble with the pronunciation, like, Im hopeless at tones pretty
much. I try, but I always get confused [laughs]. (Nelly, Year 8)

I wasnt too good at hearing the pronunciation and tones cause the words were a bit close
together, and, like, I just kind of found it a bit hard where one word started and one word
ended. (Ned, Year 9, dropped Chinese end Year 8)

I can usually notice in my voice if Im saying it wrong But thats also one of the things that
frustrates me the most: if Im unable to hear it in my own voice, I just dont know where to go
but because, um, there are some students in our class that are unable to pick that up, like
hearing them next to me kind of confuses me. (Daisy, Year 9)

I would like to do some more listening type things, like, watching like movies or the news and
stuff cause I think thats something that I need to work more on. I think the tones are the
hardest, for me, yeah. (Nicole, Year 9)
12

I find picking up the tone marks hard I think that if we were just more focused on speaking
than writing Id be, a lot better at Chinese because when the teacher sometimes talks and its
hard to decipher it. (Kosi, Year 9)

Well we dont really have that many periods of Chinese a week, but I just think, like, for a
language you have to hear it and practice it frequently. (Tania, Year 9)

VCE students

Its predominantly written we dont really have a lot of time to do listening listenings more
of an optional thing Pronunciations quite hard, basically because Im not really experienced
in that area, and I dont hear it enough. (Karolina, Year 11)

Weve been doing listening since Year 7, but its getting more complex now and also the
oral work, that only kicks-in in Year 9 When its really fast its just a blur and youre sort of a
bit confused. (Delia, Year 11)

We do more writing tests, essays and vocab tests than we do listening and oral I feel Ive got
to try to do some more oral practice. If I do that, my tones and my pronunciation will get better.
(Kiril, Year 11)

[Listening and speaking] are actually more useful, in the real world, so its just unfortunate that
on the exam its the [reading and writing]. (Taksheel, Year 12)

I dont do much listening at all. (Kevin, Year 12)

Hearing it from a Chinese teacher whos been based in Australia for years is so much different
to hearing it through a native Chinese person on the streets, and I certainly wasnt prepared for
the speed or the tone they used when I was over there [in China]In a classroom half the
teachers are talking slowly and clearly, you can understand it, but the only real opportunity you
got to listen to it was that and other classmates answering a question. An Australian Year 11
student answering Chinese its almost a different language compared to a Chinese person
speaking it. (Noah, post-Year 12)

Tones
I can tell the difference [between the tones], but I really need to work on it I feel that Im not
too good at it, so Im always sort of, conscious about, am I making sense? But Im eager, I
dont really mind if I make a few mistakes. You do need to be exposed a lot to know what a
language sounds like with French I know this is how you pronounce it. (Karolina, Year 11)
I would say that its easier for me to pronounce the sound of the word than the tone marks.
(Delia, Year 11)
I think the tones are more difficult cause there are so many different ways you can say it.
(Kiril, Year 11)
Yeah, with the tones that took practice, it didnt come straight away I still have sometimes,
if someones speaking fast, confusion with the second and third tone. (Taksheel, Year 12)
Because you sort of know them even if you cant say them I know when the things supposed
to be third tone, but I just cant pronounce the third tone very wellI know what tone it should
be for the characters that I know [but] it might not flow naturally. (Kevin, Year 12)

Im not even close to being knowledgeable about every tone and when I was speaking I
found I kind of just placed my own intonations and stress on the words When I speak it I feel
a bit uncomfortable, not sure if I just sound like an idiot or not. (Noah, post-Year 12)

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Register

When you hear [the teacher] talking with other people youre like, Oh, is that how you say it
You realize hes not speaking formal Chinese, so its a bit confusing in that sense, yeah.
(Karolina, Year 11)

If youre talking to peers, if there are a lot of, like, colloquialisms, and bits of sentences that
arent critical to the sentence structure but, you know, people, like, just tack on the end, its like,
Wow, what is happening? Because you only learn one way of saying something. (Taksheel,
Year 12)

In class we were certainly exposed to a more formal standard of writing and speaking, which
was fair enough because it was a classroom setting, but on the street it doesnt really correlate
so well. (Noah, post-Year 12)

Reading and writing

Inside class and out, the students spend a considerable amount of time on reading and writing, and
learning characters and vocabulary by writing them out. Two-thirds of them said (to their express
regret) they were better at reading and writing in Chinese than in speaking and listening, one said she
was about equal in all skills, and two said they were better at speaking and listening.
Character learning is tedious work, with retention over time difficult to achieve, even by senior level.
For example:

Basically I find myself learning characters, and then perfecting them and then maybe 3 weeks
later Ive missed a stroke or something, so Ill have to go back. Its always that constant
catching up. (Karolina, Year 11)

If you stop even for 2 weeks, you find youre forgetting, and it all falls apart. [Even native
speakers] say its really easy to forget characters and [that is when] I realized the challenge
and that you really have to push at it. (Taksheel, Year 12)

If youre reading a sentence, all it takes is, like, to not know a couple of characters, or to
misread a character, and you cant understand the whole thing. (Noah, post-Year 12).

Resources

The textbooks have helped great for writing and reading [But] I came up to one of my
Chinese friends and said, Ni hao, and [laughs] he said to me No one says that these days!
People usually go Ni gan ma? [What are you doing/up to?] You have to actually speak with
Chinese people who know Chinese and theyll teach you how people communicate these days.
[Bahir, Year 9]

Its a bit outdated because it was published in 1990, so for instance learning about trains its all
about bunks, when its really bullet trains now. (Karolina, Year 11)

But I found theres a few mistakes on the [online] site and thats sort of a bit irritating. (Kiril,
Year 11)

I dont think that [textbook A] was as good [as textbook B] because there was too much vocab
in each section; and I thought it was a bit boring, because all in black and white. (Kevin, Year
12)

They helped, but, yeah, they didnt help as much as, like, going out and speaking would.
(Noah, post-Year 12)

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6. Conclusion
Articulate, engaged, disciplined and very eager to develop in Chinese, these students give ample
evidence of the time, effort and interest teenagers can and will devote to language learning if they are
encouraged to by their parents and have been assisted in developing a capacity to learn. The success
of the students interviewed seems well in line with Erards view that there is no need to resort to
neurological exceptionalism to account for it. They clearly put in plenty of time practising and
consolidating their work and analysing and correcting their errors. The one personal gift these students
do have is parental interest, a factor that should not be a privilege, and one which could be enhanced
for others if schools and teachers put their energies into it. To be effective, such a campaign would
need to go beyond exhortation and offer practical means parents might use to be helpful to their
children.
While they have made good progress in the school subject Chinese, the students interviewed give the
impression that they (and their classmates) could be making much greater progress in the language if
the experience were organised a bit differently: if classes in lower secondary were better managed and
teachers competent in the language and in teaching; if there was a greater exposure to listening to
natural Chinese and more up-to-date textbooks; if there was guidance in understanding their own
learning needs and identifying problems; and practical strategies taught to improve on performance. It
is unlikely that many schools will devote more time to Chinese, but keen students like these, and no
doubt others as well, could also benefit from guidance in making use of opportunities available outside
class, virtual and real, to exercise their Chinese.

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7. References
Curnow, Timothy and Kohler, Michelle. 2007. Languages are important, but thats not why I am
studying one. Babel, 42 (2), 2024.
Erard, Michael. 2012. Babel No More: The Search for the Worlds Most Extraordinary Language
Learners. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Foard, Tracey A. 2000. The good language learner: students of Italian in an Australian secondary
school. Melbourne: Melbourne Graduate School of Education, the University of Melbourne,
unpublished Master of Education thesis.
Naiman, Neil, Frohlich, Maria, Stern, H.H. and Tedesco, Angie. 1978. The Good Language Learner.
Toronto: The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
Oxford, Rebecca L. 1992. Language learning strategies: what every teacher should know. New York:
Newbury House Publishers.
Rubin, Joan. What the Good Language Learner Can Teach Us. TESOL Quarterly, March, 1975.
Rubin, Joan and Thompson, Irene. 1982/1994. How to Be a More Successful Language Learner:
Toward learner autonomy. Boston: Heinle and Heinle.

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APPENDIX Participant details

MARY Year 7
Conscientious student who obtains top marks in her subjects. A high achiever and independent
learner, who likes a good challenge. Very musical and does extension Maths. Studied Chinese as a
compulsory subject from Prep. Likes languages and really enjoys Chinese, intrigued by it, thinks it
looks and sounds really cool, thinks its different and interesting. Finds Chinese easy at the moment.
Really enjoys the characters, feels she has more strength in reading and writing, likes reading more.
Entered a speaking competition. Doesnt do many listening activities; teacher speaks mainly in
English. Identified learning strategies; learns things really quickly, does a lot of revision for tests and
exams, parents help test her for assessment, happy to work on Chinese because she really wants to
do well. Has been happy with her teachers. No interaction with Chinese outside of class. Will continue
with Chinese and looking forward to Year 9 trip.
NELLY Year 8
Very diligent student, who has high standards and strives to do really well. Studies extension Maths
and musical theatre. Has taken Chinese as a compulsory subject in Years 7 and 8. Gets a lot of
support from parents and encouragement to do Chinese. Parents think she has a gift for languages.
Wants to acquire more language for Year 9 school trip to China; likes the idea of traveling to China
and mixing with another culture. Loves Chinese, thinks its a really good language, feels a sense of
achievement. Likes how it sounds smooth and flowing. Had a lot of trouble with pronunciation; Interschool reading competition valuable experience in giving her a lot more confidence in speaking, now
takes tones into consideration independently (although finds them confusing). They do more reading
and writing work, and thinks shes better at it. Identified learning strategies: learns characters pretty
quickly; perseveres and persists with revision, always does extra revision and identifies what she
struggles with in order to improve. Doesnt usually get Chinese homework every lesson as theyre
supposed to. No interaction with Chinese outside of class, no help at home. Feels shes good at
Chinese and satisfied with how shes doing.
NED Year 9
A creative thinker, who studies mainstream Maths, and did guitar for 6 years in primary. Didnt really
like both languages studied (French primary, Chinese secondary). Interested in, curious about,
Asian culture; holds a red belt in Karate, and some mates were also doing Chinese. Goals for Chinese
related to his immediate school environment with over 50% Chinese heritage students, also his desire
to travel. Ned studied beginner Chinese in Years 7 and 8, one of 5 Anglo students in classes out of
about 25. Most Anglos dropped Chinese as they didnt catch on; feels it would have been easier if
everyone had started on the same footing. Definitely more non-Chinese choose French and Greek.
Parents suggested he do Chinese, wanted him to go on with it, but hard as he couldnt get help at
home. Parents understood the issues when he dropped it. Happy hes not doing Chinese in Year 9; it
got harder, he got left behind, got confused, started not to enjoy it, classes were repetitive and
textbook based, wasnt much fun, lost interest, resented it. Definitely thought his reading and writing
was better than his listening and speaking, as hes a visual learner (used Pinyin for reading). Found
character work more enjoyable than listening and speaking; found listening confusing; pronunciation
and tones two separate issues (not too good with tones). Couldnt practice speaking with heritage
classmates as he wasnt at the stage where he could talk to someone in Chinese. May do it again with
a specific purpose if he needs it i.e. for travel, but not as a formal subject.
DAISY Year 9
Linguistically oriented family, with solid push and drive to study Chinese. Intellectually engaged
student, who studies music and mainstream Maths. Has familiarity with the Chinese community in
which she lives, although does not interact and communicate in Chinese. Would not have chosen
Chinese based on primary school experience. Enjoys the challenge of Chinese and it not being
straightforward as compared to European languages. Wants to experience Asia, with little language
barrier. Really enjoys listening to Chinese, feels she has greatest strength in listening capacity.
Greatest challenge is speaking, in which she feels she has regressed. Sees the lifestyle as
preventing her from doing better. Feels she doesnt have adequate time to work on Chinese at school
and would prefer longer periods. Identified learning strategies: repetition, doesnt cram, takes breaks
to avoid frustration, benefits from classmates modeling the language well, takes time to process and
understand content. Not a lot of homework, reading and writing based, with no help available at home.

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TANIA Year 9
Student who works hard at all subjects. Influenced by mothers love of languages and brother studying
Japanese in Year 12. Likes the sound and rhythm of Chinese, and it being different. Feels shes
persevered and persisted with Chinese. Has gone over and above work requirements with some
tasks. No help from anyone at home. Identified learning strategies; visual learner, works closely with
friend in and outside of class, awareness of intonation (as a result of studying raps in class and
studying violin). Feels shes strongest in oral capacity, although not confident using Chinese in the
community. Finds characters the hardest. Homework mainly reading & writing based, with character
practice the main focus. Feels she doesnt have adequate time to work on Chinese at school,
although praises teachers efforts. Planned progression with Chinese into VCE and may enlist a tutor.
BAHIR Year 9
Linguistically oriented family and extensive family exposure to languages (English, Bengali, Filipino
and reading Arabic). Academic and self motivated student, who studies 3 musical instruments and
extension Maths. Creative, deep thinker, with strong insight into the language experience (learning
priorities, strategies, nuances). Benefited from being in a Year 8 extension class with heritage
students; sees listening as one of the most important aspects of learning. Wants to integrate study of
Chinese into his normal lifestyle; immerse himself in the Chinese community. Wants access to the
people, culture, belief system, travel. Currently accesses community through his heritage school
friends and online Chinese MSN. Identified learning strategies: a visual thinker, currently focuses on
aural/oral work, watches film in Chinese in his own time, practises characters in context and uses
components. Would like to do more listening and speaking at school, feels one can get distracted from
oral work by just writing it. Looking forward to upcoming 5-week school trip to China. Would like to
continue with Chinese and is also researching some after-hours Chinese schools.
NICOLE Year 9
Intellectually engaged, slightly nervous student, who studies advanced Maths, singing and an
instrument. Despite struggling with her teacher in Year 8, was motivated to take an Extended
Mandarin elective as well as compulsory Chinese in Year 9, as she wanted to work on it more. Very
much likes Year 9 teacher (who she has for both streams) and likes having about 6 Chinese classes
per week. Really wants to learn the language and many classes help her to learn it better; wants to do
further travel in Asia. Feels she copes with listening well due to her singing background, finds
speaking the hardest, especially tones. Does a lot of character writing in class. Personally she thinks
she needs to work more on listening and speaking. Identified learning strategies: likes to analyse
characters, does some extra work on the radicals and stories, finds her own way to group characters
as this helps with memorization; sometimes reads books about China. Slightly vague about
homework; thinks she does a bit more than 1, maybe 2 hours, each night. Parents encourage Nicole
to study the language, but doesnt get any help from anyone at home. In weekly contact with a
Chinese couple who are friends of the family, sometimes practises with them; thinks its really good to
have this opportunity and would be confident to speak with them more. Will undertake VET Mandarin
in Year 10 and looks forward to a 2-week school trip to China next year.
KOSI Year 9
Dedicated student who received Year 8 Chinese award; continuously trying and being motivated to
work got him to where he is. Parents very happy with his results. Studies general Maths, no music.
Despite not learning much in Year 8 due to classroom management issues, motivated to take
Extended Mandarin elective as well as compulsory Chinese in Year 9 (6 classes per week) and finds
hes learning a lot more. Doing Chinese for future work prospects, also likes the challenge. Focuses
more on reading and writing at school and home; thinks hed be a lot better at Chinese if they did more
listening and speaking in class. Finds tones very hard to comprehend and listening hard to decipher;
exposure not as much as hed like. Finds Malaysian class buddy a help; buddy has a big advantage
over him in listening and speaking as he speaks Chinese at home. Little Chinese socialisation outside
of class, a bit nervous to speak Chinese in the community. Identified learning strategies: asks
questions, enjoys classroom discussion (doesnt find working online at home helpful, as has a lot of
questions); says sentences aloud to himself to memorise and help with pronunciation; analyses
radicals, finds characters hard to write, but learning radicals now makes it a bit easier. Will undertake
Language Advanced in Year 10, might do VET course. Family cannot afford 2-week school trip to
China in Year 10.

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DELIA Year 11
Reserved student, thinks she has an aptitude for languages, studies VCE Chinese and French, feels
shes doing well. Finds French a lot easier in terms of speaking fluently, especially after 6-week trip;
Chinese vocabulary quite limited. Enjoys doing Chinese, sense of satisfaction when finishes a task
and does well in it. Interested in Chinese culture and language because its part of her history (a
quarter Chinese); doesnt use Mandarin with extended family, little other socialisation. Parents
generally encouraging, no one in immediate family can help. Had a very bad teacher in Year 9, but
continued with it, had a great teacher in Year 10. Studies VCE Voice Performance, joined a Chinese
Orchestra start of Year 11. Would say she has a good ear; finds it fairly easy to differentiate between
the sounds and to pick them up, tones are more challenging. Identified learning strategies: listens to
songs to learn, finds it really helpful to memorise words through singing, associating them with a note
or the melody; finds characters easy to remember, uses charts or mind maps to revise in other
subjects; really likes to make flashcards for revision, also writes key sentences and sentence
structures (probably does 1 hr extra a week on this, maybe more, depending on assessment coming
up). Overall they do more reading and writing, especially with homework, oral exams only commence
in Year 9; doing more listening now in Year 11, probably better at reading and writing. Will get more
exposure to general conversation when she travels to China (school 3 weeks, Chinese Orchestra 3
weeks). Would like to continue with Chinese in university, maybe even teach English in China, or
study there.
KIRIL Year 11
Diligent student, works his hardest to get results. Really enjoys learning another language, picked it up
quickly. Chinese has always been one of his best subjects. Works hard to improve, persists. Although
time consuming, its not a chore, fun. 3-4 of closest mates do Chinese; helps to have friends to test
over the phone. Parents know hes good at languages, really pushed for Chinese, no help at home.
Thinks his characters are fairly good. Feels character writing is at the expense of oral work. Identified
learning strategies: punctual with homework so hes ahead or with the class; thinks its easier to revise
consistenty after each class, character practice and sentences, doesnt cram for tests, does the work
beforehand. Assessment and homework more reading and writing based. Likes the way Chinese
sounds, its different and good. Trying to improve on speaking and listening; thinks tones are more
difficult than pronunciation of sounds, tries to emulate the tones. Never really done informal speech in
class, will be exposed to it when he goes on school China trip (3 weeks). Excited about it, as it should
improve his speaking if he speaks constantly in Chinese. No socialisation outside of school. He would
like to study Chinese after VCE, likes studying it.
KAROLINA Year 11
Linguistically oriented family, very language aware, very articulate. Studies Maths Methods and music.
Thinks she has an aptitude for languages, better at French than Chinese, despite more of a passion
for Chinese. Parents definitely think she has a gift for languages, really encouraging of Chinese,
despite no help at home. Interested in Chinese as its such a beautiful sound to hear and its nonalphabetical. Chinese her favourite subject, really passionate about it, its fun; does quite a lot of extra
work consolidating. Goal is to get into business and work in China, ambitious. Identified learning
strategies: does Chinese homework straight away, probably everyday; own revision strategy includes
writing English and Chinese translations, saying aloud while writing sentences structures out, (used
flashcard strategy in Years 7-9); uses CD for listening preparation before assessment; works with a
Chinese heritage class buddy. Character writing tedious at times; perfects characters then 3 weeks
later misses part of it, always constantly catching up on characters. Majority of time spent on
characters, always writing, feels shes not learning the most modern content from outdated textbook.
Feels difference between informal speech and formal written language should be explicitly shown.
Doesnt have a lot of time to do listening in class, listening is more optional, personally something she
has to work on. Pronunciation is quite hard because she doesnt hear it enough, tones probably the
hardest part. Wishes she had another half a year to perfect Chinese or even stay with a Chinese
family in China need to be exposed a lot to know what a language sounds like. Socialises with
Chinese people, but doesnt use the language with them or anyone in the community. Teacher had a
really positive influence on her, wants her to do a Chinese scholarship after school.

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KEVIN Year 12
Academic student, undertaking VCE Chinese and French. Sees doing languages as quite rewarding,
a pleasure to learn them despite the time commitment. Always been good at languages; felt he
needed to work harder at Chinese and has gone to lengths to make improvements and thus feels
better at it. Chinese socialisation at home through live-in student and weekly tutor. Has traveled to
China on two school trips. Currently immersed in VCE assessment requirements. Majority of workload
on literacy development, vocabulary acquisition and memorisation. Identified learning strategies;
awareness of tones, essay writing strategy, combines movement with memorisation. Vague regarding
current homework hours. Negative perception of non-Chinese background Chinese teachers. Planned
progression with Chinese post-Year 12 through scholarship in Beijing.
TAKSHEEL Year 12
Linguistically oriented family, fine appreciation of language and culture worldwide. Insightful student,
deep conceptual understanding of Chinese; the need for comprehension of tones, colloquialisms and
radicals. Believes Chinese is useful in the modern world, interested in modern Chinese history, found
inquiring about modern culture a bit taboo. Thinks he has an aptitude for languages; no hesitation
about continuing, despite it being hard. Finds VCE Chinese requires a disproportionate amount of
time compared to chemistry, physics, Maths Methods. Sees value of his local Chinese immigrant
community; feels socialisation really important to try out skills. Attended speaking competition in
China. Finds it unfortunate that the bulk of VCE assessment is reading and writing (80%); feels
listening and speaking is actually the most useful when it comes to the real world. Students not
engaged in Years 7-9, course interesting and fun; learnt more in Year 10 than previous 3 years. Very
small class Year 10 onwards; same teacher who was a huge support and motivating factor. Identified
learning strategies: reviews his work to correct and improve, especially essays; consults character
history book to see what theyre about and memorise by radicals; does extra reading from books or
online outside of set homework (as encouraged by teacher); enjoys weekly buddy system with
international students, good to have another perspective. Sees a connection between effort and
reward, but found if you dont use it you lose it straight away. Has a Hanban Scholarship to attend
Beijing University in 2012 for 1 year.
NOAH post-Year 12 by 1 year
Very ambitious,goal-oriented student, who took VCE Chinese as an academic pursuit to maximize
marks. Strong family encouragement to continue with Chinese, high expectations, felt he was pushed
into it. Very slow rate of improvement from Years 7-10, not engaged, didnt like resources nor teaching
style. Increased workload in Year 11, in Year 12 enjoyed teacher-student relationship, worked most on
Chinese than any other subject, did more work than most classmates (top 2 or top 3 in year level for
class work). Identified learning strategies: VCE study strategy based on assessment tasks, particular
focus on oral exam, work was more about memorisation than proficiency, conferred with classmates
and measured priorities against them, did not focus on what he personally needed to improve on.
Strong sense of discontent regarding VCE outcome; feels Chinese reduced his TER (96.75 TER, 27
Chinese raw, 39.5 Chinese marked up). Feels curriculum should include more exposure to real,
authentic Chinese and more explicit teaching of tones. Two school trips to China easily the highlight of
6 years of language learning, greatest enjoyment came from holding a conversation on the streets.
Restricted from doing Chinese in first-year university, had a weekly home tutor but too unstructured.
Investigating travel, study-tour or exchange, although hesitant to go to China for 1 year. Confused
about what to do with Chinese now.

20

Chinese Teacher Training Centre

Melbourne Graduate School of Education
Level 8, 100 Leicester Street
The University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010
Australia
A copy of this report may be downloaded at
www.education.unimelb.edu.au/cttc/

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